The Oklahoma City Thunder have become one of the league’s most feared teams, and it’s thanks in large part to the continued MVP-caliber play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On Tuesday night, despite the Thunder’s 121-111 defeat to the Indiana Pacers, Gilgeous-Alexander was his usual best self, putting up 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists while shooting 10-20 from the field.
And in breaching the 30-point mark yet again, Gilgeous-Alexander now has 48 games with 30 or more points this season. As a result, he is now the Thunder’s record-holder for most 30-point games in a single season, surpassing the mark Kevin Durant set (47) on two separate occasions (2009-10 and 2013-14 campaigns).
While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will certainly prefer that he notch this feat in a win, he will absolutely take it. After all, Gilgeous-Alexander knows what an honor it is to be mentioned in the same breath as Durant, the 2014 NBA MVP, let alone surpass him in a difficult scoring feat.
“It’s cool. It’s an honor. Obviously, (Kevin Durant) did some amazing things here in his career. To be in those types of conversation with him is a blessing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in his postgame presser, per Rylan Stiles of Inside The Thunder.
What a blessing indeed it is for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to be playing the way he’s been doing so for the entire season, and most importantly, he has remained mostly healthy for the Thunder — a godsend in today’s injury-riddled NBA. Gilgeous-Alexander’s greatness is starting to become easy to take for granted as well, with many fans expecting the Thunder star to drop exactly 31 points in every game.
Of course, Kevin Durant’s Thunder legacy has now become polarizing thanks to his controversial departure in 2016. But scoring 30 or more points in that many games over the course of a season at a time when the average scoring wasn’t yet as high as it is today is nothing to scoff at, so even though Gilgeous-Alexander has snatched Durant’s record from him, it’s a marvel that the future Hall of Famer small forward was able to accomplish what he did.
What Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will be looking to do next is to get back to winning ways when they take on the Dallas Mavericks this Thursday at 10 PM E.T.
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